Okay, I am finally getting around to posting a few of our Indiana trip pictures. I will be posting a few more later. So....
As I talked about before, while Ava and I were on our mini vacation, we headed up to Indiana to stay a few days with my aunt and uncle. I used to spend almost every break from school with some type of visit up to Indiana, but since Ava has been born, traveling is a lot more complicated. You should see my packing list! So, this was the first time that Ava and I had been up there (except when I was about 4 months pregnant with her). Our main objective for the visit was for my aunt to get some pictures of Ava since she is working on setting up a photography business.
Ava was in kitty heaven when she arrived because Bo and Mike have 3 cats. For 3 solid days, my mouth was on autoplay, "Stop Chasing the Kitties!" and "Easy! Don't be so rough!" But they tolerated her and did a little bit of playing. Ava and I were also appreciative of the fact that Bo and Mike own "The Little Mermaid" and that earned them some street cred with Ava.
After some shopping, eating, and browsing, we decided to take a little day trip to a place called Lake Shakamack. When we first arrived, Ava was asleep and was so happy to wake up to see horses. She has loved petting and watching horses, but up to that point, she had never ridden. Mike arranged for Ava to ride a little miniature pony because we weren't sure if Ava would ride with the guide for a trail ride and they wouldn't let her ride with us. So Ava met John Deere and to this day, when she gets on her rocking horse, she calls him Deer. Ava liked looking at the pony and wondering around more than riding him, but after being around the guide, a sweet lady named Nicole, we decided to do a short trail ride. Guess I shouldn't have been worried about Ava not riding with someone else because she just let them pass her around. As soon as she was up on that horse she started saying, "Yeehaw!" and cracking me up. It was so adorable seeing her up there. She was fine riding with Nicole and just enjoyed the ride. Every one in a while Nicole would wait for my horse to pull alongside so I could see Ava and take pictures. She was like a little cowboy holding on without even having to be shown how. I have to admit that I hated to see the ride end because it was so much fun, but I don't think my rear end could have handled anymore. I was sore for 3 days after the ride.
She had the best time and I thank Mike for stopping and letting us go on this little adventure. I know Bo had as much fun as we did. She also earned the name Nona from Ava. Ava had a wonderful time visiting Muncle Mike, Nona, and Emma (the cat). She still wakes up saying, "Where's Emma?" and is talking about the cat and not her baby doll. It was great fun... now on to the photos!
